Giggs must learn from past Man Utd managerial flops

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has revealed his desire to move into management once his playing days are over.

The 38-year-old was speaking ahead of captaining Team GB’s football squad at London 2012 when he told reporters that he had attained his UEFA ‘A’ coaching license last season.

“Coaching is something I'm looking at more and more,” he said.

“In the middle of last season, I completed my Uefa A licence, which was good. It's a different side of things, completely different to being a player.

“I want to gather as much knowledge as I can and prepare myself as best as I can, if I do want to go into management or coaching.”

The Welshman would be joining quite a large group of ex-players who had played under Sir Alex Ferguson and decided to move into management once their playing days were done.

Also interesting is how little success these men have experienced in their careers and you wonder if Giggs has what it takes to buck the trend in that regard.

Playing under Ferguson at Old Trafford would usually mean doing so at the highest level and experiencing a great deal of success, though his early days in Manchester were not incredibly fruitful.

Steve Bruce was Manchester United captain for two Premier League winning sides and the first Englishman to lead a side to the League and cup double in the 20th century.

However, he has failed to shine as a manager in the top flight and has held the post at a number of smaller teams in the country, without setting the world alight.

Bruce’s greatest success was taking Birmingham City from mid-table in the Championship to promotion and three consecutive seasons in the top flight before relegation and another promotion.

Bruce then went to Wigan for a second spell and achieved relative success by finishing 11th in the Premier League, but his tendency to move quickly between jobs surfaced once again and moved to Sunderland.

After again impressing early on to secure a reputable 13th place finish for the Black Cats, but this second season started poorly and he was sacked.

There are obviously still people willing to give Bruce a chance as he recently took over at Championship side Hull City and will be hoping to take them back to the Premier League after their two-season experience a couple of years ago.

Mark Hughes was thought to have been the most promising of Ferguson's protégés when he impressed many with the work he did the Welsh national team, taking them to the Euro 2004 playoffs but losing to Russia.

Hughes’ time at Blackburn Rovers saw three consecutive top half finishes, including one year in the top six, and a UEFA Cup campaign.

His reputation burgeoning, Hughes was offered a lucrative deal by Thaksin Shinawatra to take over Manchester City, he was also the man in charge when the famous takeover by Abu Dhabi United occurred.

He was given an opportunity to spend some of the millions on offer, but was unable to inspire the team to the level of success expected by the new owners and was replaced by Roberto Mancini.

A successful year in charge of Fulham (eighth in the Premier League and qualifying for Europe) was ended with a bizarre resignation that may have had something to do with a vacancy at Aston Villa.

Hughes is currently in charge of newly wealthy Queens Park Rangers after being appointed mid-way through last season by the club’s new owner Tony Fernandes.

QPR managed to avoid relegation on the final day of the season and Hughes will undoubtedly be hoping the spending money on offer from Fernandes will lead to him building something successful.

Bryan Robson’s career has plummeted since a couple of good early seasons with Middlesborough, and he was last working the Thailand national team.

Paul Ince is another who has been unable to translate promising work in the lower leagues into top-flight success.

Giggs is the most decorated British player ever and his quality on the field is undoubted, but the fortunes of other great players – many of them his team-mates at some point – show this is irrelevant when it comes to taking the big job.

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